Kagamine Len- Orange
by OnceUponMyTime
Summary: Based of the song itself. Len meets Rin in secondary school and find himself falling for her. Rinto, his best friend, notices, and tries to help him get his feelings to her. Meanwhile, Rinto, himself, has known Lenka since primary school, but has not told her about his own feelings. Will the two love-struck boys make their feelings known? Or will they suffer an unforeseen loss?
1. Disclaimer

**DISCLAIMER:**

I don't own the song 'Orange' feat. Kagamine Len.

This story is not officially the plot of the song. This is crafted from my own view [as a fan] of the song.

I don't own any of the character names.

I don't own anything else apart from this story.


	2. Chapter 1

"Where did that piece go? I thought I just saw it..." muttered Len as his eyes searched for a jigsaw piece amongst several identical others.

The whole class was split into groups to fix different sets of jigsaw puzzles. Out of all the six sets, Len's group (well, except for him) has decided to pick the most difficult of them all: a 1000 piece puzzle depicting the sun setting over the horizon of a dark blue sea.

Bleary eyed, Len tore his eyes away from the hundreds of blue and orange pieces and looked at his group mates. Alone, he completed a third of the puzzle. As he did so, his group mates were playing a game they made up on the spot with their stationery, and they hardly paid any attention to the puzzle itself. Piko occasionally helped, but he was more interested in the game than the puzzle.

Raking his fingers through his golden-yellow hair, Len looked up at the clock. They only had ten minutes left to complete the puzzle.

"Hey guys! Come on, please, we have to finish this in ten minutes!" Len pleaded to his group.

Rinto, along with the others, stopped fiddling with their erasers and came over to help him.

"Chill it, shota Len," chuckled Rinto. "We'll finish it in no time."

"If we didn't choose a puzzle with a thousand pieces," retorted Len. "And _quit_ calling me a shota!"

Rinto did not respond, but he was deftly picking out the puzzle pieces and joining them together like the others. Well, at least his group finally showed a sense of urgency.

Even so, the school bell signaling the end of school resounded when they were halfway through the puzzle.

Throughout the whole lesson, Ms Megurine had been keeping a close eye on Len's group as the whole class was fixing the puzzles she had brought for them to try. She was not very concerned about the other groups as she saw that they were making good progress, but she had to do something about that group. Most of the time, she only saw poor Len working on the huge jigsaw puzzle with the occasional help of Piko.

While the class started to pack up their things, she stood up from the teacher's desk and walked over to their table. Although the bell had already rang, the boys were still crouching over the unfinished puzzle, frantically looking for pieces of the puzzle.

"Okay boys," started Ms Megurine. "I think I need you all to stay behind to complete the jigsaw puzzle," she finished.

True to the fact, she only thought of that punishment on the spot because, clearly as a teacher, she could not be lenient on them. She did give everyone plenty of time to do the jigsaw puzzles, even for the one that they were fixing then.

They boys groaned.

"But I have tuition, Miss!" whined Gakupo.

Ms Megurine could not help but scoff.

"Tuition, Mister Gakupo? I'm finding it hard to be convinced," she told him. "Now, I didn't assign everyone in class a jigsaw puzzle for no particular motive," she addressed the rest of the students.

"Yes, Ms Megurine. You wanted us to learn how to cooperate with our fellow classmates and understand the importance of sharing the responsibility to complete our task," spoke Rinto with the air of a teacher's.

"Says the one who ganged everyone up against Len to play some stationary war," was the retort Ms Megurine came up with.

She was losing her patience with an exasperating bunch of boys.

"Look, if you all put your heads together and finish this _together_," she said, trying to hide her frustration as she got her things and leaved the classroom. "You will complete the puzzle within half an hour!"

With that, Ms Megurine stepped out of the classroom and walked as far away as she could from it.

"I really shouldn't have thought of the idea of letting the class run riot with jigsaw puzzles," she said to herself.

She completely forgot about letting Len off, since he did most of the work.

Meanwhile, the 'exasperating bunch of boys' continued to complain.

"But I really have tuition..." groaned Gakupo.

"I don't, but I have to get going as well," said Oliver.

The two of them got up from their seats and began to pack their bags.

"If they are going, then I'm going too," declared Piko.

The rest silently agreed with one another. In unison, they began to leave the classroom. Going home was the only thing on their minds then.

Except for Len.

"But we have to finish this or else we'll get screwed!" exclaimed Len. "You don't want to get into trouble, right?"

"Leave it, Len," Rinto said when they have all left for home. "Ms Megurine won't punish you, for sure, you goody little two shoes." he continued as he ruffled Len's hair teasingly.

Shrugging Rinto off, Len crossed his ams on the table and rested his head on them. What Rinto just said could be true, but he was still worried about his other friends getting into trouble. They were not bad people; they just did not see the point in fixing the jigsaw puzzle.

Rinto, his good friend, looked at him anxiously. How he ever became such good friends with an Angel, he did not know. However, they were friends even though he liked to tease Len very much. Just by looking at him, he knew Len was not going to leave until he had finished the puzzle. Typical. He could stay and help him out, but he had other plans.

"I got to go now," Rinto told Len as he headed for the door. "Good luck with the puzzle, shota Len."

"Going to see Lenka, huh?" replied Len casually, knowing he hit the bull's eye when Rinto stiffened. "Well, good luck with that." he smirked, feeling triumphed.

As much as Rinto understood Len, Len understood Rinto just as much.


	3. Chapter 2

After seeing the last of Rinto, Len looked back down on the unfinished jigsaw puzzle which he now had to do on his own. He could be stubborn sometimes even when it came to petty matters; like the time he was _so _sure that there really was a phantom lurking in the fifth cubicle of the toilet at the sixth floor.

He had plenty of time. It was 4.40 p.m. then and the next train would only arrive at 5.30 p.m. . So he started to look for the last puzzle piece that would complete the edge of the sun. Besides, he liked to fix jigsaw puzzles. So it did not feel like a chore.

He was so engrossed in the jigsaw puzzle for the next ten minutes, he did not realize that he was not alone.

Rin Kagamine had remained in the classroom after school. She had been sitting on the table in the corner of the classroom while she silently watched Ms Megurine scolding the boys for not doing the puzzle together. She heard her telling them to stay behind to complete it, but she witnessed each of them leave with excuses with an amused look. She heard Gakupo lamenting that he had to go for tuition [Nerd, she thought.], saw Piko backing off [Coward], the others silently trailed off [Brainless], and heard Len mentioning Lenka to Rinto when he mysteriously left the classroom [Playboy]. She did not think much about them for she found them very childish. None of them had noticed her lurking at the back of the classroom [Blind bats, she sighed]

She did observe that Len was the only one who obediently stayed behind to do the puzzle [Shy]. Her lips twisted; she so wanted to get a hand on those puzzle pieces to piece the promising picture of the beautiful sunset on her own. She had lots of time to kill until she had to go home.

Feeling slightly irritated, she took out her iPod and earpieces to listen to music. Losing herself in her thoughts, she listened to the soothing melodies of the songs as she looked out of the window. In a few minutes time, she would see the sun sink into the ground behind the trees of the school garden.

She still could not stop thinking about that jigsaw puzzle.

* * *

Feeling cross-eyed again, Len tore his eyes from the hundreds of puzzle pieces he had yet to fix. Tiredly, he stared unseeingly to his front. As his eyes adjusted to the surroundings, they widened and his heart skipped a beat.

Sitting on the table at the far right-hand corner was Rin Kagamine, listening to her iPod and looking out of the window.

Len could feel his hands going clammy. He wiped the cold sweat off on his school pants slowly as he stared at her. When was she here? Was she here the whole time? What was she doing here? He was thankful that she did not notice him stupidly staring at her at that time.

He followed her eyes as she looked out of the window, curious at what she was looking at. When he looked out at the window himself, he saw the sun set. It slowly descended into the school trees.

He thought it was beautiful when the sky had turned into a lovely shade of pink-orange. The colour reminded him of the roses that-

Shaking his head to shake off the memory, his eyes turned back to Rin. It was obvious that she had been waiting for the moment. Her eyes glimmered in awe as the sun hid itself behind the trees. He caught a glimpse of her white teeth as her lips curled into a smile.

The sunset that took place outside reminded him of the one he had to finish. Reluctantly, he went back to his work, bashfully and fully aware that Rin was nearby. Since the sun had already set, he only had about twenty minutes left before he missed the train. He tried to complete it as quickly as he could.

"Need some help?"

The sound of Rin's voice seemed to have set an electric current down his spine. _She was talking to him._It had only been a few minutes since the sun had set.

Catching hold of his quivering tongue, Len replied, "Yes, please. I really do."

"Okay," chirped Rin.

Len hoped she could not hear his heart thumping profusely as she dragged a chair over and sat opposite him. She was already looking at the jigsaw puzzle. In a minute, she found eight matching pieces.

Despite himself, he could help telling her that she was so _good_ at this.

Shrugging her shoulders, she replied, "I have been piecing puzzles since I was young. So I often fix jigsaw puzzles."

She watched Len scrutinizing the puzzle pieces but did not pick any of them up.

"Why don't you experiment?" asked Rin as she demonstrated, picking up one at random. "At the rate your going, this puzzle will be finished by midnight."

"Erm... Well, I'm just afraid the piece isn't the right one," Len said as he watched Rin successfully placed the piece into the puzzle.

He suddenly felt very wrong when he saw her looking amused.

"Huh, you aren't very adventurous, are you?" Rin said not unkindly.

Wanting to give Len a chance to figure it out, she flicked a puzzle piece at him. To her surprise, he managed to catch it in between his fingers.

"You have nimble fingers," she commented as Len experimented with the piece.

"Urm, thanks," he responded. "I play the piano," he continued.

He smiled in triumph as he fitted the piece in the puzzle. Rin secretly thought he looked cute when he smiled.

Shaking that thought away, she looked up at the clock. 5.10 p.m. .

"Let's hurry up a bit. When do you need to go?" she asked Len as she wasted no time picking up another puzzle piece.

Taking note of the time himself, he said, "I got to catch the train at 5.30 p.m. "

_So they only had about five minutes left to complete the puzzle... together_, thought Rin, suddenly feeling very conscious that the two were them were the only ones in the room piecing a huge jigsaw puzzle together.

"Then you have to go in five minutes," she decidedly said. "Or else you'll miss it."

The conversation ceased as they did as much as they could to finish the puzzle. Len would have to go in five minutes, but he did not want to. He was actually enjoying himself.

As the second hand of the clock hit the number '4', it was time for him to get going.

Reluctantly, he slotted the 942th puzzle piece into the correct position and stood up. He started to pack his things.

"I have to go now," he told Rin as he headed for the door. "What about you?" he inquired.

Rin looked up at him, his back facing her as he leaved the classroom, thinking.

"I think..." started Rin as her eyes drew towards the clock. "I'll finish up the puzzle and wait for the 6.00 o' clock train. You can go first."

She bade Len 'goodbye' and cheerfully grinned at him.

He was surprised that Rin had so much time, but he did not comment. In fact, he thought she would also lay down the puzzle pieces and go as well. Wait, why did he assume this?

He could feel heat rising up his cheeks.

He quickly turned away and walked out of the classroom, then remembering to walk back in and say 'goodbye' to Rin, and then went out again.

_That was embarrassing_, he miserably thought. Rin was probably going to laughing at him.

Back in the classroom, Rin momentarily peered out of the window, feeling happy, contented, and, for once, was not feeling angry.


	4. Chapter 3

**I knew I missed out Oliver in the previous chapter where Rin had her own thoughts about each of them backing off the task set by Ms Megurine. I didn't forget about him, ****_Rin_**** did...**

* * *

"You free today, shota Len?" asked Rinto as the class emptied itself at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon. "Me, Gakupo, Oliver and Kaito are going to play at the arcades at 4."

"Sorry, I have to stay back today," said Len apologetically as he packed his school bag.

"What? Why?" exclaimed a shocked Rinto. "It's not because Ms Megurine caught you shaking your hand around like some mad kiddo, right?"

"Uh, _no_. I told her I was trying to unstick my pen from my hand because it got coated with glue."

"You couldn't get the thing of?"

"No, so I asked for permission to wash it off in the toilet."

"Not on the sixth floor, right?"

"Why would I go three floors up to use the toilet?"

"I was just _joking_."

"Okay, okay."

"You know..."

"What?"

"I probably should not use too much glue the next round."

"You _what_?"

"HAHAHA! The look on your face is so _priceless_."

"Dude, it isn't funny!"

"Okay, I know. I'm sorry, shota Len."

"And will you _stop_-"

"OKAY. Look, I'm really sorry I made you feel so bad, Len. I promise I won't do it on you again, really." Rinto gibbered, feeling remorseful to his friend as he patted Len on his back.

But _still_, he knew he would not be able to resist pulling a prank on Len again another time.

Heaving, Len accepted Rinto's apology with a grunt. He could sense that he was sincerely sorry. Besides, come to think about the incident, he was beginning to see the funny part of it himself.

"Wait, what? You're _laughing_!" Rinto exclaimed as Len chuckled noisily.

Looking at Rinto through teary eyes, Len laughed, "Well, I have seen the funny part of it myself."

Rinto grinned. It was nice to have an emphatic friend.

"Do you know how cute you sound when you laugh? You seem to be five years younger," teased Rinto, still in the playful mode.

"Enough, Rinto."

"Alright... Maybe you should laugh more in front of Rin, eh?"

"What do you mean?" asked Len bluntly, facing away from Rinto.

"Haven't you two always being staying back in class after school?" quizzed Rinto.

Len did not want to answer, although it was true... But they did not stay behind every single day. All they did was to talk and wait for the sunset every few days they stayed back. Through these times, they slowly grew to know more about each other.

Rinto pursued, "So, is _that_ why you are staying back today?"

At least he could answer that.

"Nope. I'm going for the interview session for selected candidates to become councillors."

"Really?"

Rinto was not very surprised that Len got selected, but someone had to nominate him. A week ago, a notice had been put up for nominees from the Junior level. You had to get a form and nominate one person you thought would be suited for the responsibility and submit it latest by the previous week. No, Rinto did not nominate him; he kind of forgot to nominate Len...

"Yeah, did you nominate me?" replied Len.

There was no point lying.

"No, it wasn't me. Sorry, bro. Besides, I knew that you will get in, even without my say," Rinto told him. "Congrats!"

"Thanks," said Len.

He silently wondered who voted for him, if it was not Rinto.

Looking at the clock, which indicated that it was 2.20 p.m., Len grabbed his bag.

"I have to go now, it starts at 3," Len told Rinto as he left the classroom.

Before he left, he took a glance at Rinto. He looked lost in thought. Just then, a question came up.

"Did you nominate anybody?" Len asked him.

"Hm?" started Rinto. "Lenka."

"Oh."

"It's not that I didn't want you to become a councillor, shota Len. She... I could tell she wanted to be one."

"It's okay."

And then Len left for lunch. He himself did not think about being a councillor anyway. But since he got selected, why not?

Upon reaching the canteen, he dumped his bag on an empty table and went to order a banana pudding.

* * *

He revised the list of selected juniors which was pasted at the door of the School's Society Of Aspiring Leaders (SSOAL) room. Yep, his name was there. So was Lenka's. Then, he spotted Oliver's and Piko's name down the list. He did not see Rin's name, though.

He nearly fell forwards when the door opened. Looking down at him was Akita Neru, the new head of the councillor board.

Taken aback by a small boy carrying his lunchbox standing at the door, Neru stiffened.

_Remember to stand straight, be smart, and look confident!_ She reminded herself, still grasping onto her new position.

"Well, hi there! Do you need anything?" she cheerfully asked Len.

"No, thanks. I'm one of the selected juniors for the interview," returned Len, suddenly feeling as though he was really five years younger.

_He looks frightened... Did I scare him?_ Neru anxiously thought.

"Oh. Well, we aren't starting the interview just yet. Do you want to wait inside?"

With that, she let the door swing further inwards, showing him more of the SSOAL room. He peered in timidly, seeing lots of seniors with badges and ties. He gulped.

"Maybe I'll wait outside," he told Neru, starting to feel nervous.

"Okay, see you later!" Neru called after him as he quickly walked away.

_Blagh, I did scare him away_, moaned Neru in her head.

* * *

"Hey."

Without looking up, Len knew who spoke.

"Hi."

"Shall I sit with you?"

"Nobody's stopping you."

"Okay."

Taking her seat on the other side of the bench, Len felt his stomach plunge downwards.

"Let me guess; you're staying back for the interview," started Rin as she absentmindedly plucked a wilting daisy from the grass.

The first place Len had thought of was the school garden as he walked away from the SSOAL room, where he sat down and thought about what he saw in the room.

"Yeah, how did you know?" he asked without really thinking.

"Well, there was something called a 'notice' at the SSOAL door for selected juniors," said Rin sarcastically. "It had your name on it."

Feeling stupid, Len stuttered," Oh, um, yeah. Heh heh."

Scratching his head, he looked down at his feet.

"Forget I asked that, it was rather stupid of me."

"Not really, Len. Besides, I knew you would get in."

"Really?"

Len couldn't suppress a smile.

"Yeah, or else I wouldn't have bothered nominating you."

So it was Rin who nomintated him. He could feel his heart swell with happiness.

"Thanks."

Silence.

_Why doesn't he continue to talk? _wondered Rin.

After a moment's ponder, she realized.

"Your welcome."

"Good, you're remembering," Len said, smiling at her.

"Heh heh, I'm forgetting less," she proudly said.

"Yes, that's true," Len said, wanting to encourage her.

They were friends, that was what Len was sure of. He was glad, because he did not do anything embarrassing in front of Rin whenever they were together. He was able to be himself despite his feelings for Rin. That only mattered then.

He managed to hide them so well, Rin did not detect them. He was her only friend. She could not get along with any of the girls. Just _what_ was so nice about makeup, clothes, and K-Pop? She also did not mingle with any of the boys [Eurgh...]. All they seemed to do was to play, play, play. All she wanted to do was to stay far, far, far away from them. Except for Len. He was a nice [and still shy] and did not play outrageously like the others. He was the only person she openly approached that day when he had to complete the jigsaw puzzle.

He understood her.

"I'm sure you will ace the interview," she told him.

Smiling again, Len said, "Thanks!"

"Your welcome."

There, she did not even need to think about it!

"Rin, how long are you intending to stay back today?" Len asked.

She could sense that he was anxious about her.

Rocking back and forth, she told him, "Let me see... I guess I'll stick around for another four hours. Do you want me to wait for you?"

He wanted that more than ever, however he told her not to. He wanted her to go home.

"I wonder where Oliver and Piko is?" he asked her, casually changing the subject so she would not have the chance to object.

Giving in, Rin said, "I saw Piko being whisked away by Teto and gang... Who knows why. And Oliver? Is he the one who likes to put an eyepatch on his eye?"

"Yes. Have you seen him? His name was also in the list."

"Uh..."

Rin tried to remember who Oliver was.

"I don't remember who he is. Was he part of the gang who bullied you that day when we all fixed jigsaw puzzles?"

"Yeah, he had the eyepatch then. He's about my height. And what do you mean by 'bullied'?"

"Well, they wouldn't help you with the puzzle even though you asked them to," said Rin defiantly, crossing her arms.

Secretly thinking how cute she looked with her arms crossed, Len grinned.

"Nah, it was fine. Besides, I like puzzles; I told you before," he told her. "Anyway, remember Oliver now?'

"Yes. He was with the blue-haired guy."

"You mean Kaito?"

"I think I mean Mikuo."

"Well, was it dark blue or light blue?"

"Dark."

"So it's Kaito you are referring to."

"Oh. Alright. Thank you."

"No problem."

"Anyway, I bet Oliver went out of school, Len. I don't think he knows he got selected for this interview thing."

"It can't be; I told him and Piko in class today, but I'll send him a message to remind him."

Len whipped out his Samsung Galaxy II from his pants pocket and tapped lightly on the screen. Rin looked wistfully at his phone.

"You have a nice phone, unlike mine," she lamented, taking out her own Nokia.

"Yours is still touchscreen so it's just as nice," Len told her, taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze.

He knew Rin did not mind that, but he tried not to hold her hand too much.

Smiling, she checked the time on her phone.

"You have to go now or else you'll be late," she urgently told Len, showing him the time.

2.57 p.m.

In a frenzy, Len got up and stowed his phone away, his heart starting to palpitate.

"Bye," he said to Rin.

Standing straight, he tried not to tremble as he walked back to the SSOAL room.

Momentarily, Rin propped her chin on her hands and looked at Len walk away. She was happy she met a caring and friendly person.

"Go home soon, okay?" he told her before asking her about Oliver and Piko.

When should she go? She liked it so much here. She'd rather stay in school than to go back. But that day, for Len's sake, she would go home early.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked to the school gate. As she turned into a corner, she spotted Teto and her friends crowding around, laughing. She betted that it was Piko, trapped in the circle.

"You better let him go now," she bluntly told Teto." He has an interview to go to."

Looking at her somewhat deceitfully, Teto signalled to her friends and stepped away from Piko. Looking terrified, Piko dashed out of the broken circle and made a beeline for the SSOAL room.

"Thank you so much," he panted as he ran past Rin.

"Your welcome," she called after him as he sped down the corridor.

Ignoring the pair of red eyes following her, Rin walked past the gang, making sure to 'accidentally' bump into Teto, and continued her journey to home.


	5. Chapter 4

The train pulled to a stop as it reached a was where Rin had to get off.

She played for time, standing at the very edge of the train floor, poising to jump off when the doors started to shut. Meanwhile, she stared at the gap between the platform ground and the train, thinking of yet another version of how she could fall to her death.

The doors started sliding towards each other. Swiftly, Rin leaped off the train and skidded into the ground. However, she winced in pain as her knee scraped against the concrete. Well, not to worry. She had worse injuries.

She picked herself up, dusted off any debris, and straightened her bow even though there was not anyone else at the platform. This platform rarely had any commuters anyway, since it was the last station on the line.

She checked her watch. 4.00 p.m.. She did not even know why she bothered to wear the watch. It was given to her by... Wait, she could not even be sure about that.

Frustrated, she ripped the watch off and threw it as far away from her as possible. The watch smashed into a lamp post twenty metres away. Despite herself, Rin ran for the watch, feeling panic-stricken. She felt the watch crumble between her thin fingers. Needless to say, she was very strong. Just _what _was she trying to do?

Shoving the broken watch into her pocket, she continued her way home. If she walked the longest route as slowly as possible, she would be home in fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes was too little time to her.

_Go home soon, okay? _

There was Len's reminder again. Somehow, the sound of his voice comforted her, gave her courage.

So she decided to just take the shortest route back, walking at a fast pace. Besides, there was someone she wanted to see back home.

Upon reaching the doorstep of her house, she drew out her keys. Then, her hand seemed to have frozen itself as it was halfway out of her pocket.

_Move._ she told herself.

Her hand, a part of her body, still dared not to move. Impulsively, she took her other hand to actually yank it out, keys clanging against one another.

Vigorously, she slotted the correct key into the keyhole and turned the lock. As she did so, she could not hear anyone inside. Was anyone home?

Holding her breath, she opened the door a crack. Her sky-blue eye peered into her own territory. The living room was empty. She could not spot anyone in the kitchen. She could not hear someone coughing somewhere upstairs.

Was she alone?

She walked one whole round in the house to check for anyone. Nobody else was at home; for a long while probably, because the house felt dirty, cold, and still.

_Plunk! _Rin dropped her school bag when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator to get a glass of orange juice, and was surprised by a mouse that jumped out of it.

In a flash, Rin grabbed an electrocuted swatting device from the back of the kitchen door and ran after the mouse. With a quick _ZAP_, she caught it, dead. She cleanly disposed it into the dustbin with a pair of long tongs she took from the kitchen again.

Then she went to get the orange juice out.

As she sat at the head of the large dining table, she slowly sipped and listened to the old grandfather clock ticking the seconds away from the living room.

4.30 p.m.

It was extremely quiet. Though she did not like it, she enjoyed it for a while. Then it became too eery. How was it that she only spent half an hour here?

Frustrated, she gulped the last of her orange juice and thumped the glass onto the sink. Grabbing a coke on her way, she sauntered over to the living room to turn on the television. Ah, a soccer match was on. The noise of screams and the commentator filled the whole house easily.

As she gulped down half the litre of coke, Rin propped her feet onto the coffee table in front of the sofa, her eyes fixated on the screen. She was not following the match between Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion. She was not even interested in the sport itself.

It seemed like she was not interested in anything.

She let her thoughts trail away as she continued to gulp down more coke. Her younger sister should have been here two hours ago. Her father... Was most likely out somewhere in a pub again. Her mum...

She did not know.

Now, just where was her sister? Anxiety started to grip onto her. She should have made it back safely, right?

Letting her unfinished drink spill all over the floor (she could always clean it up later), she ran up to to her room which she shared with her younger sister. It was in a mess.

But definitely empty of people.

Cursing, Rin grabbed her raincoat and flew out of the house. In an instant, hard rain drops pelted down onto her covered head.

The first place she went to was the remote and sketchy fast food restaurant down the road.

"Lin?" she called out, sticking her head in.

No response. Apart from the stares of heavy bikers who happened to stop by for a burger.

Barring her teeth daringly at the ferocious-looking bikers, Rin shut the glass doors and continued her search.

She jogged down the road, stopping at every shop to see if her sister was in one of them, much to no avail.

"Lin?"

"Lin...?"

"_Lin?_"

hollered Rin as she trudged her way back to the house. Besides being drenched from head to toe and her feet coated with mud, she could not stop the tears coming up. She had gone back to the house to get her travel card to board the train and look for her sister in the station where her primary school was. However, that deemed unnecessary.

The television had been switched off.

"Lin!"

Sprawled on the sofa where Rin just sat on an hour ago was her twelve-year old sister, staring into space. Just like Rin, she left her school bag in the middle of the floor.

Though she heard her name, she did not respond.

"Lin!" Rin raised her voice. "Where were you?"

Looking up at her older sister in a bored fashion, she replied monotonously, "At one of my friend's house."

"Doing?"

"Stuff."

"What stuff?"

"It's none of your business."

"Well, it _is_."

"Blargh."

Turning to face her back to Rin, Lin curled into a tight ball in her uniform and dozed off.

The tears did not come any longer. Instead, they were washed away by the peer urge of giving Lin a slap.

Wordlessly, she went to their room in her raincoat and boots. The anger was getting more intense with every step she took. By the time she reached the door, she was full of it. She flung her muddy boots at her sister's side of the room, wanting to avenge her. Satisfyingly, the boots bounced off her bed. One of them landed on the ground while the other smudged the wardrobe.

Ignoring the muddy stain on the door, she opened the wardrobe, took out a set of clothes, and went for a bath.

When she came out from a half-hour long shower, it was already time to have their dinner. She headed straight down to the kitchen and fished out a huge basket of various instant ramen.

Within a minute, she had her selected packet boiled in a pot of water. The aroma of the seasoning started to fill the room. Her sister had not been heard or seen since their conversation. Rin decided that she would help prepare her sister's meal, too.

"Do you want dinner, Lin? Come to the kitchen to choose your flavour."

"Flavour?" her sister groaned as she entered the kitchen, clutching her file containing homework.

"There's teriyaki chicken, fish, or just plain-"

"I don't want to eat instant ramen."

Rin stared at her sister. She looked extremely tired. Her hair had been put down in an unkempt manner and the black bags under her eyes were getting bigger. Rin swore she was getting skinner as the weeks passed by.

"There isn't anything else to eat."

"Cook something."

"Like?"

"Some pasta."

"I would... If there was any pasta," said Rin as she opened one of the kitchen cupboards to show its emptiness to Lin.

"Sandwich?"

"The bread's stale."

"Some salad?"

"We don't have any vegetables in the fridge."

"Well..."

"Look, just for today. We have instant ramen. I didn't go to the grocery store to buy any food."

"How about I go there now?"

"What?"

Gaping, Rin told her, "You're too young to do it alone."

"I'm _not_ too young."

"You're only _twelve.__" _

"That means I'm not a child anymore."

That was true.

"But you're not a teenager yet."

"What's the huge difference? I'm only a year younger. I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

Fancy that! Rin told her that she was not to go anywhere on her own unless someone older in the family was able to accompany her. This policy was very common to Rin, who experienced this at her time. And here was Lin, declaring for freedom that Rin only had when she turned fourteen.

"_No_."

"Why?"

"It's late. So it's dangerous to go out now."

"Dangerous? In what way?"

"It's... It's just dangerous to go out in the night, okay?"

Right as though it was on cue, the water that had been left to boil for too long splattered and scalded Rin.

Gritting her teeth, she ran her arms under cold running water at the sink. While she was at it, she asked Lin to help her turn the fire off.

Obediently, the flames were put off and, additionally, she poured the contents into a bowl and carried it to the dining table. Rin could hear the chopsticks clicking against each other as she turned the tap off. She went into the dining room.

"That was my dinner," she told Lin.

Lin just shrugged and continued slurping the hot noodles. They looked slightly burnt.

"That isn't suit to be eaten," she said as she gestured to take the bowl away. "I'll cook you another one."

"No. It's fine." replied her sister not defiantly, gripping firmly onto the edge of the bowl.

"Burnt food is unhealthy."

"It's still edible."

"You'll eventually get cancer from eating too much of them."

"That's unlikely."

"It _is_."

"Well, I _don't_ care!"

"Just give me the bowl."

"No! Food will be wasted."

"That doesn't matter-"

_Clang! _

The porcelain bowl crashed onto the ground as the two girls tugged at both sides and shattered into a thousand shards. The hot content splattered everywhere, injuring the both of them even more.

Exasperated, Rin turned to Lin.

"Look at what've you done."

"No, look at what _you've _done."

"If you didn't have to be so stubborn."

"What? Like you?"

"_Excuse me?_"

"Well, yeah."

"If I'm not stubborn, how will I be able to get you moving?"

"If I'm not stubborn, how will I be able to get choices or freedom?"

Lin slammed her fists on the table hard, her glaring eyes fixated on Rin. She rose from the table and stormed upstairs, her socks soaked with the soup. Her feet were probably burning.

As much as Rin would like to leave Lin to deal with her burns on her own (Well, didn't she say she wanted freedom? Fine.), she could not stop her own feet from following her sister's.

She prepared a tub of cold water with a towel in the bathroom. Then, she slowly opened the door of their room where she heard crying. Lin apparently had flung herself onto her bed despite it being dirty.

"Lin?" Rin called softly.

No response. Typical.

She searched for a roll of bandage she had left on her bedside table the previous day and went over to her sister. Slowly, she pulled the socks off her feet and placed the sore feet onto her lap. They did not have any medication, but she dabbed them with the towel she soaked into the water. The toenails scratched her as she dabbed Lin's toes one by one. Lin remained silent as Rin used the last of the bandage to wrap her feet.

Gently, Rin placed her feet back onto the bed and stood up, carrying the tub and towel. She stooped down to retrieve her muddy boots on her way out of the room. Suddenly, she felt something heavy on her back.

"I'm sorry!" Lin cried as she hugged Rin from behind, burying her head in her blouse.

Sighing, Rin put down her things a hugged her back. Lin could easily tower over Rin anytime soon as she folded her arms over Rin's shoulders. Their tears merged as they cried together.

"When will mum and dad be home?" Lin asked Rin.

Rin looked at the clock in their room. 7.20p.m.. Who knew? She did not.

"They'll be back." she tried to assure Lin and herself.

"I'm sorry for being mean to you."

"I'm sorry for giving you attitude."

"I'm sorry for not cooperating during dinner."

"It's ok, it's ok. I should have stopped to buy some food."

"Never mind."

After a while, they broke apart.

"Quickly shower and do your homework," Rin told her sister wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Oh yeah, my homework. It's still on the table." she anxiously told her. "It's probably wet."

"Don't worry, I'll get them." Rin said to Lin as she rushed downstairs to get them.

For the next few hours, the two sisters lived in harmony and peace; helping each other to clean up the house, cook another two packets of instant ramen, and did their homework together, helping each other if they were stuck.

Meanwhile, they were both eyeing the clock, hoping for their parents to come in as the minutes passed.

* * *

Rin could feel her eyelids protesting to remain open as she packed her bag for school the next day. 11.10p.m.. Lin was out an hour ago, having spent a long time figuring out the math equations and problem sums. Rin had helped her pack her school bag, mentally noting to get her a new set of foolscap paper as she did not see any piece of paper in her school bag.

Finally, she placed her bag next to her sister's in the hallway. She hesitated, then stood on her toes and peered through the peephole at the door. They were pretty much alone.

There was a latch at the bottom of the door. Rin had always been nagged at to pull down the latch every night when everyone was at home before going to bed. Her hand hovered above, deciding if she should just lock themselves in or wait for another few minutes.

Just for another few minutes.

_No_.

Rin forced the latch down with more strength than she needed to, locking everyone out of the house. If there was anyone who wanted to enter anyway.

Well, since she locked the house, it was time she went to bed. However, she found herself lifting it up again.

_NO. They won't be back tonight. _Rin shouted at herself in her head.

She forced it back down again. She wanted to lock the people who were suppose to be her parents out. Forever.

Or maybe not.

She found herself lifting it up yet again. Why was she so soft-hearted?

Uncontrollably, she jiggered the latch up and down repeatedly to vent her mixed emotions out. The scene that took place that night started to unfold in her mind again.

* * *

_A year ago, as it neared midnight, Rin and Lin were fast asleep in their room. The family just had their supper together while piecing a 1000 puzzle piece. The house was relatively quiet apart from whispered conversations being shared by their parents._

_Their whispers became louder and louder until they travelled all over the house as screams, shouts, and yells . Expletives were bouncing off the walls._

_They woke Rin up, being a light sleeper. Her heart started to race. Something was not right._

_As quiet as a mouse, Rin slid off her bed and tip toed down the stairs, walking towards the light coming out from the dining room. Her ears started to sting as the noises amplified. Her breathing was shallow._

_"Just get out of here!"_

_"You know what, that's what I'll exactly do!"_

_Rin peered from the door's side, her eyes were very round and wide as she saw the two adults she had come to love dearly fighting with each other. Her father's face was beet-red while her mother's was as pale as paper. Were they the same people who laughed and joked together while they were having their supper just some time ago?_

_In a second, her mother whisked around and headed for the backdoor. She flung it open, stepped out, slammed the door back. The sound was deafening._

_Fear crawled on Rin as she turned her head back to her father, who was facing the door, fingers curled into a tight fist. Judging by the direction his feet were turning to, Rin scurried up the stairs, making a beeline for her beloved, comforting bed. She was frightened out of her wits._

_She was so frightened that she mistakingly pounced on her sister's bed instead of her own, only to find that she, too, was wide awake. _

_Without a word shared, the sisters huddled together in the single-sized bed, staring fearfully into each other's eyes._

_Neither of them wanted to go down the next morning. They had to, however, for they had school. _

_There was nothing to face in the end. Apart from two plates of their usual bacon and eggs, nobody else was at home._

_They went one whole round in the house, calling for their parents. They only heard their calls echoing back at them. _

_Their breakfast was barely touched and they fiddled nervously with their food. They had to catch their trains then._

_Deciding to take charge, Rin took her keys and beckoned Lin to go out of the house. Holding her breath, she locked the soulless house._

_She turned to her sister._

_"Act normal. Don't tell anyone about what happened." she instructed Lin._

_She saw her hesitate, so she gave her her best stare. It worked._

_Gulping her words back in, Lin whispered, "Okay."_

_Slipping the keys in her pocket, Rin and Lin brisk-walked down the street towards the train station. Despite having shorter legs than Lin, Rin managed to walk faster than her._

_"Hurry up, Lin. Or else we'll be late."_

_"I can't!"_

_"Sure, you can," Rin told her, grabbing her hand to lead her into a quick jog._

_They were just in time, barely hopping through the closing doors of their respective last trains that morning._

_"Bye!" Rin managed to shout to Lin._

_"Bye..."_

_And they went their own separate ways._

* * *

Rin did not want to remember any further. The cold, anger, hurt, and loneliness from the following incident were already ingrained into her mind. Flashes of her parents constantly fighting, slamming doors, leaving houses, ignoring Lin and her, played in her head still.

She punched the door to stop them, causing her knuckles to bleed. She slumped onto the ground, screaming in her head and hugging her knees.

Her fingers were still lingering on the latch.


	6. Chapter 5

"Stand straight!" rasped the nurse as Len leaned against the measuring instrument.

"I already am, miss."

"You sure? Try to be taller. You should be growing up quickly at this age, you know."

_This is embarrassing... _thought Len.

The nurse recorded his height and dismissed him.

"Next!" yelled the nurse, obviously in a bad mood.

Len quickly left the area enclosed by tall shades. Why did it need shades anyway? He only had his height taken in there. It was health screening day for the entire school. Every single student had to attend it. So from morning to afternoon, classes took turns hour by hour to have their health checks. Len had just been to the first station- height measurement.

When he came out, he saw Rinto sitting at the first chair in the row. They had to wait in their chairs for their turn to be checked for the following health stations.

"Tsk tsk, Len. What did you do to make the nurse to grumpy?" mocked Rinto.

"It wasn't _my _fault," retorted Len.

True.

"Okay, okay," said Rinto as he got up. "By the way, what's your height?"

Looking down, Len told him, "156cm..."

"HAHA! Indeed a shota, indeed," laughed Rinto.

Before Len could do anything like scratching Rinto, Rinto vanished behind the shades.

Face burning, Len shuffled his feet to the next station. The nurse looked just as crummy. She was seated behind a laptop. Her face looked constipated.

"Your health booklet," she demanded, putting her hand out but not looking at him.

Grudgingly, he plunked his health booklet onto her hand and plunked onto the chair situated next to her.

* * *

**_Sorry to interrupt your reading... But do you know what a health booklet is? In this case, it's a booklet that records everything about the health or development or growth of a child since birth. For every health screening session, every student had to bring their health booklets to update their booklets. Okay, now you can continue reading the story!_**

* * *

The nurse started to type his particulars in the laptop. Much to his anger [and more embarrassment], she started to flip through his book, reading out stuff that she was not suppose to look into in the first place.

"Dear Len, have you hit your growth spurt yet?" muttered the nurse.

What?!

"Let's see... You are very short, dearie. Your growth rate is rather shallow in primary school, only at 153cm in primary 6!"

She keyed in something. Probably his health report. He could feel his face burning.

"And look," she commented, flipping to the back of the book where his previous health reports were tucked into. "Every single report here says that you are too short for your age!"

Tutting some more [irritatingly], she shut the book and passed it back to him.

"Head to Station 4," she curtly told him, eyes still trained on the screen.

He dragged his feet to that station. He definitely hated health checks.

Especially this particular station.

He felt like fainting just by looking at the needles.

Thankfully, there was a long queue waiting for their turn. He took the seat furthest back and buried his face in his hands. Why did the nurse have to refer him to this station?

Suddenly, he was jerked up by someone.

"What are you doing at the back?" asked Rin.

He hand was clutching his [small] wrist. He noticed red marks streaked across her fingers and knuckles.

"What happened?" he asked her, pointing at her fingers.

"Mmmm... Nothing," she told him, letting go and hiding her hands behind her back. "Come on, there aren't many of us left."

He very reluctantly followed her to the first row of seats and sat to her right. True to the fact, there were only a handful of them left in this room. He weakly watched the nurse inject the sharp needle into Gackupo's arm. Gackupo only winced, and then laughed it off.

"You may go," instructed the nurse.

So he did, eagerly jumping off his seat and left the door. He did not notice Len. He was already smiling at the people outside.

That was strange... Wasn't Gackupo his friend?

Before he could think anymore, the nurse's hoarse voice called out, "Miku Hatsune!"

Rin scowled as the teal-haired girl stood up from her left. Len was puzzled.

"Why did you scowl?" he asked in a low voice.

"I just don't like her," she spat under her breath.

_Who would not like her? _thought Len absentmindedly to himself. She had already topped the class in pretty much everything during their tests, she was athletic, she was said to appointed as captain of her netball team, and she got selected to be a school councillor.

Len sadly stared at her councillor tie while she took her injection. His shirt was bare without one. He was not selected.

Rin reached out for his hand and squeezed it.

"Don't worry, I'll be nominating you again next year," she muttered to him under her breath.

He felt warm and chummy inside.

"It's fine..." he said back.

Miku was looking at the two of them while she had injections on both arms. Upon meeting her eye, Len could feel himself turning red. Oh no... What could she possibly be thinking?

He quickly shrugged off Rin's hand, though he would gladly keep holding it.

Rin saw Len look at Miku, then looked away, shrugging off her hand. Hurt, she folded her arms and looked at the ground. It was her turn when Miku left the room. Len remained in his uptight position as she took her injections and left the room without looking at him.

Confused by that, he did not notice the sharp jabs he feared in his arms as he restlessly thought about Rin. Why did she act like that? Did he do something wrong?

She was the first thing Len looked out for when he left the room, his arms covered with cloth swabs. However, the corridor which was meant to be filled with classes, was empty.

Was he forgotten by his class?

Panting, he raced back to his classroom. Ms. Megurine was talking to the class when the door was opened with a huge _SLAM!_

"I'm sorry I'm late, Miss!" exclaimed Len profusely, bowing towards Ms. Megurine.

"It's alright, you may take your seat," said Ms. Megurine.

Len turned to face the class, and then realised their seats have been changed.

"Uh... Where's my seat?" he asked Ms. Megurine.

"Oh yes; I have decided to make you all sit in pairs to help each other in their studies for this new term," the teacher explained. "Your seat is over there," she continued, pointing at the back.

Ah, he was going to be seated next to Lenka this term. His bag was already placed on his chair.

Sighing, he went to his seat. He did not pay full attention to Ms. Megurine going through Algebra for the first few minutes as he scanned the class' new seating arrangement. Rinto was with Gumi [who was really good with Japanese and Sciences] three seats to his left and Rin was with Oliver [who had a flair for English and Math] at the front of the class.

He tried to concentrate on his lessons, resolving to get to Rin at the end of day like any day.

* * *

That day was not any day.

Rin was one of the first people to leave the classroom when the school bell dismissed the entire school.

Len hastily packed his bag and was about to run after her.

"Ri-"

"Slow down, shota Len! You left half your things behind!" Rinto called out, grabbing his shoulder quite easily.

It was too late, Rin was far, far away.

Frustrated, Len went back to his desk to pack his bag again, dumping the contents into his bag. Meanwhile, Rinto was conversing with Lenka.

"Hey, I'm not going to be able to go back with you today," Rinto told Lenka. "I'll catch you up another day, okay?"

"It's okay, I understand," Lenka kindly replied.

She left for the door.

"Bye Rinto. Bye Len," she told them as she silently left the class.

Len would have thought she was as dainty as a daffodil.

"You should have just went with her," he told Rinto when she was also far, far away.

He just shrugged.

"It's alright, she understands," he nonchalantly said.

"You could have just went off with Gackupo and gang."

"Nah, don't feel like it. Besides," Rinto dropped into a whisper, "I don't think they find me important."

"Huh?"

"They are always talking about Vanguard."

"What's that?"

"Some card game with anime."

"... Uh-huh?"

"See, you don't get it either."

"Well, I feel like a sheet of glass to them, you know!"

This was just not a good day.

"What makes you feel like that?" asked Rinto, baffled.

"This may sound stupid, but..." Len hid his face on his desk. "Gackupo didn't see me in the health room."

He could hear Rinto trying not to laugh.

"Oh..."

"And they always seem to be ignoring me whenever we do group work or eat together during recess anyway!" raged Len. "It isn't fair; Kaito and Gackupo came from the same primary school, Piko and Oliver are always talking about Robotics, and Yuma is just... so emo!"

"Really?" Rinto asked, straining not to laugh.

"I just feel so left out, okay?" huffed Len, preparing to leave the classroom. "And now Rin's having some issues with me and she's not telling me why!"

There, he just said it! Actually, he had been keeping his emotions bottled up, seeing his classmates for the past term playing around so much during class, talking among themselves, pretty much ignoring him [for who knows what] and letting him do most of the group work they were suppose to do together. It was just... Getting irritating. The grades they got were usually terrible. Don't they sense the need to study and get good grades?

Len walked alone for a few moments. Then he heard the familiar steps of Rinto getting louder as he caught up with Len [that was easy...].

"Hey, relax Len," said Rinto as-a-matter-of-factly. "I know how you feel. They are all a bunch of jokers."

"I don't see how you can actually tolerate them!"

"They're alright, I guess."

Alright? Well, not for Len.

"Uh-huh, yeah..." he said, hiding his own emotions.

"Anyway, what's with you and Rin?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing..." Len replied, suddenly feeling very shy.

"Yeah, right. Say, it's been six months since we've been in school already. Are you and Rin still in the 'friends' stage?" Rinto asked him, setting him up.

"I- I don't know what you are talking about."

"_Uh-huh_..."

"I am serious!"

"Don't try me, shota Lennie. It's so blatantly obvious."

"What is?"

"You like her, duh."

Oh man, Len could feel himself going red _again_.

"In what way?"

"Countless ways. You always hang out with her," Rinto started, counting out his fingers, "You talk to her a lot, you meet her after school in class, you hold her hands sometimes, you-"

"Enough enough enough!"

"I can go on for a long time, you know."

"Just... Shut it!" spat Len in angst, his heart racing. "I didn't even tell you what I do with Rin!"

"Heh heh, call me a stalker," Rinto casually said, putting his arms behind his head.

"Well, call me a stalker to, then. You always steal glances at Lenka ever since the previous term had started."

"Eh, what?"

"_Don't try me, _Rinto," Len smirked.

"Augh, okay, fine," he said exasperatingly. "Lenka and I have been friends since childhood." he added.

"Wow, that's a long time," commented Len.

"Yeah, I know."

"So... When did you start liking her?"

"You irritating shota..." muttered Rinto.

Len just beamed at him.

"Since primary five." Rinto finished, figuring out he could trust Len. Well, he had to, Len was going to be the only friend he would have now.

"That's a _long _time!" Len exclaimed a bit too dramatically.

"Well, hey, it's not about me. It's about you. Don't try to stray away from the topic," countered Rinto. "What happened today between you and Rin?"

"I really don't know..." gave in Len. "It happened during the time when Miku took her injections."

"What happened at that time?"

"Rin was holding my hand- _enough_ _Rinto!_- and Miku happened to be looking at us. I was embarrassed and let go of her hand. But that's all!" said Len, feeling troublesome. "She ignored me ever since."

"I guess..." begin Rinto, "Rin thought you like Miku."

"But I don't."

"Because Rin doesn't know that it is her you like, shota Len," stated Rinto. "If she knew, she wouldn't have been like that."

"What are you trying to say?"

They had reached the train station.

"Let her know you like her," Rinto told him straight to the point.

Like that was easy.

"That's not easy," Len told Rinto. "Besides, it's too fast."

"Unh." Rinto grunted.

"How'd you know Rin likes me anyway? What if she doesn't?"

"I'm sure she likes you too, don't worry."

"But... But... Augh, it's just complicated."

"How complicated can it get? You like her, she likes you, you two should be together."

"Then what about you and Lenka? Still in the 'friends' stage?"

Rinto stiffened.

The train came. They went in. It was not very crowded, like the usual days. Why must every odd thing happen that day?

The duo looked around them. There was not anyone else from their school so they continued talking.

"Uh, I don't know," Rinto slowly admitted.

Len looked at him.

"You don't know?"

"Yeah."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?"

"I don't know."

"Are you becoming a 'I-don't-know' guy?"

"No."

"Well, it's either a yes or a no."

"It's not that _simple_, shota."

"And I rest my case."

"Oh- _fine_. You win me."

The train pulled to the next station [which was Rinto's stop]. Rinto bade Len goodbye and alighted the train. The doors shut and it sped on.

As the two troubled boys went their own way home, their minds were only occupied by their heartthrobs.


	7. Chapter 6

"Done!" Rin exclaimed, fitting in the last jigsaw piece of the 100-piece puzzle.

"How come you're so good at this..." Len moaned.

Rin just grinned at him.

Just then, the sun began to set.

In unison, the two classmates rushed to the window to catch it sink into the horizon.

When they witness the last of it, Len looked at his watch. 5.30p.m..

"We have to get going," he told Rin who was still gazing dreamily up at the sky.

Sighing, she withdrew from the window. "Alright."

"We were suppose to work on your maths," Len said as they packed Rin's jigsaw puzzle.

"Yeah, that's true..." She faltered. "But I don't care about that now." She added

She hugged the box to her chest as they left the classroom. The sky had turned into a pretty shade of orange.

"Thanks for doing the puzzle with me," Rin thanked Len as they walked down the path to the train station.

"You're welcome."

"It's just that... These puzzles gave me so much to remember," She sighed, sad for a moment.

She recounted the blissful times when her family was whole and complete.

_What gave you so much to remember? _Thought Len miserably, looking at Rin. Rin just would not tell him what exactly was wrong no matter how many times he asked.

He wanted to sympathize with her and share her burden, but how could he when she refused to tell him what happened? He only knew she did not like to go home.

With a quizzical and concerned expression, he held out his hand and patted Rin's shoulder.

Much to his surprise, Rin closed her hand around his.

_Not again!_ He thought as he felt his face burn. He just suddenly could not look at Rin anymore.

He looked away.

"Your hand is warm," Rin told him matter-of-factly.

Oh no, was his hand burning up too?

She smiled.

"I like it."

Like what? Len did not know how to respond.

After that moment, Rin put down her hand. Len felt sad and relieved at the same time.

"... The puzzles gave you so much to remember?" Len continued the conversation as though nothing really happened.

"Mm," She admitted. "Anyway, how are you doing?" Rin piped up.

"What do you mean?"

"You stopped hanging around with Oliver and the others."

True that. After that day when he and Rinto shared that confidential conversation, Len just decided not to waste his time with his classmates. It did not affect him so much, as being able to spend more time with Rin was one of the benefits.

"I need to focus on my studies," he told Rin.

Having topped the class in the first round of examinations last term, he was given high expectations by his teachers and classmates to maintain his position. He would not have so much time to go to play some card game he did not have a clue about or going round to the arcades to play [although he was very tempted to do so].

"Ah, yes. Right. I expect that you would top the whole school next term, Len," Rin told him, smiling.

_Top the whole school? _

"Ah... Heh heh," Len said embarrassedly, scratching his head.

He would be no match for Luo Tianyi, who nearly scored perfect marks in every subject. Despite being only a position behind her, he was behind by at least ten marks. Besides, her native language, Mandarin, was much stronger than his Japanese.

"I'm sure you can!" Rin exclaimed. "You just have to not be careless."

"Says the one who is pretty careless herself."

"I don't care..."

"Yes, you do. Or else you would not be asking me to help you with your Math."

"Okay..."

Rin sighed.

"But I don't get Math," She moaned.

Before Len could reply, the train arrived, screeching as it came to a halt.

"That's my train, got to go," Rin told Len.

She hopped into the cabin and waved at him just before the doors slid shut.

He watched the train storm away from him.

"Hey Len!" Came a voice from behind.

Startled, he turned around.

"L-Lily?!" He stuttered.

"What are you doing here so late?" She merrily asked him.

She was in her high school uniform and her school was two stations away from Len's. She was about a head taller than him as well, making Len look much smaller standing next to her.

She grabbed his hand.

"Come on, let's go home," Lily told him.

She was his sister, older by two years. Usually her school ended an hour later than his. Did he and Rin spend more time than they should have after school?

Len shrugged his hand away from Lily's.

"How come you're so early today?" He asked her, tilting his head upwards to see her face.

"My teacher decided to let us off ten minutes early, so I managed to catch an early train home when I saw you at this platform. So I wondered what little Len could be doing so late at the platform. So I decided to get off the train- just in time! Because the doors were about to close," She rambled as the next rebound train came in.

Dizzy by the sound of his sister's voice and the whistling of the oncoming train, Len rubbed his temple.

"Aww... Is Lennie feeling okay?" Lily asked, bending down.

"N-No no. I'm alright," He replied, feeling embarrassed as passengers started to alight from the train.

"Good. Let's go in!" Lily chirped, pulling him into the train- just in time.

There were a bunch of her schoolmates in the train as well. Len could not help feeling tiny among them.

"Who'd you got there, Lily?" Came a husky voice.

Looking to his left, Len saw a guy who looked _just like _Lily, but his hair was shorter and he was even taller than her.

"My little brother, Len. Ain't he _a-dor-a-ble_?" Lily cooed, ruffling Len's hair.

Len felt even tinier and embarrassed.

"'E looks like a shota, if yeh ask meh," The guy replied.

What was with this guy's accent?

"Well, he is one, a _CUTE _one!" Lily squealed._  
_

Other passengers were starting to stare at them.

_Oh man... _Len thought, squirming. _Do they really have to talk so loudly? _

"I'm not a shota," Len quietly told Lily.

"That's what you always say," Sighed Lily.

The guy who looked a lot like Lily ruffled his hair, leaning against the pole.

"Say, uh, Lily..." He started.

_WOOOT! _

The train screeched to a halt.

"This is our stop, Len," Lily told him as though he did not know. "Tata!" She bade the guy, waving her hand as they got off the train.

Len stole a backward-glance at the guy just before the doors shut themselves.

"I think he was going to ask you out," he told Lily.

"Oh, really Len? How'd you know?"

"Just a guess."

"Well, one understands another's actions when thy has experienced it thyself," Lily quoted.

She paused in her tracks, right in front of the ticket station. She turned to face Len.

"Have _you _asked someone out?"

"_What?!_" exclaimed Len, jumping back in utter shock. "N-N-No?" He stammered.

Lily eyed him skeptically with a hint of mischief. He sensed alighting passengers approaching the ticket station.

"Lily, budge!"

"Are you sure?"

"_Yes, I'm sure!_"

She finally made way to the passengers.

"All... _Righty_ then!"

Len could feel his face burn. Didn't he desperately wish he could sink into the ground from embarrassment. Why didn't he keep his mouth shut?

He looked down at the ground so that his fringe could hide his red face, his arms straight and rigid by his sides, and walked on.

He felt Lily's hand on his shoulder, making him stop walking.

"It's raining," she told him.

True enough, the both of them were standing in the middle of the rain.

She too out her umbrella, opened it, and brought Len close to her side as they continued their way home.


End file.
